Digital discs are used as a storage medium for digital information. The data is stored on the disc by varying the optical characteristics of the disc. This digital information can be any type of data, such as, but not limited to, audio, image, photo and/or video information. In other words, the digital data stored on a compact disc can vary from disc to disc. Different types of compact discs can be provided, a traditional type of compact disc is manufactured using a plastic mold operation. Each compact disc manufactured using the same mold contains the same digital information. As such, large production runs of compact discs which contain the same information, such as a musical composition, are manufactured in an economical manner by using a molding process.
A different type of compact disc which is commercially available is a recordable compact disc. This type of disc is manufactured such that it does not contain data thereon, but can be programmed after it is manufactured. The optical characteristics, therefore, of the compact disc are modified after it is fabricated depending upon the data that is stored on the disc. In the context of the present invention, it is to be understood that reference to a compact disc (CD) includes but is not limited to Compact Disc Recordable “CD-R”, Compact Disc Readable “CD-RW”, CD-ROM, CD-PROM, Digital Versatile Disc “DVD”, DVD−R, DVD+R, DVD−RAM, DVD−RW, DVD+RW, or any disc for data storage.
To identify the data stored on a compact disc, a label is often printed on one side of the compact disc. For large manufacturing runs of a common compact disc, a silk screen process is often used to apply the label to the compact disc. For small production runs of compact discs, such as those using recordable compact discs, a silk screen operation may not be economical. A custom printing operation, therefore, can be employed to print a custom label on each compact disc. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,734,629 entitled “CD Transporter” issued Mar. 31, 1988 for a description of a compact disc transporter which can be used to move a compact disc between a data recorder and a printer, and which allows for automated processing of recordable compact discs. This transporter moves a single compact disc at a time between stations and places completed compact discs in a stack.
Many transporters require an active picker or gripper for moving compact discs between the various components of a transporter. This adds to complexity and cost of such transporters. For small runs of compact discs, such transporters may not be economical. Further, many transporters are large and do not fit well within a small office of home environment.
Still further, typical loading and unloading systems using pickers have recorder downtime due to a picker which is feeding the recorder having multiple tasks to accomplish. For example, a disc to be recorded is placed in a recorder by a picker. When the recording is finished, the tray opens, and the picker moves the disc to the next station or component of the device. Then, the picker retrieves a blank disc for recording and places it in the recorder. During the time that the picker is moving the first disc and retrieving the second disc, the recorder sits idle.
There are many different CD and DVD recorders and readers. Many manufacturers make such products. In a transporter, there are often precise placements and orientations that are needed so that disc production is smooth and requires little if any intervention by a user once the process has started. Typical transporters require precision hand placement of recorders and the like into position within a system, further adding to the labor required to produce and modify such systems. Manufacturers are also continuously striving to upgrade drives to make them more efficient and faster. As each upgrade evolves, often the dimensions of the recorders change. While this change may not be large, the precision placement of recorders in transporters may lead to difficulty for a user wishing to replace a drive.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a transporter having a small footprint, and for a transporter that provides reliable yet economical service. There is a further need in the art for a simplified process for mounting a new or upgraded drive within a transporter system.